I was born in Poonch (Kashmir) and now I live in Norway. I oppose war and violence and am a firm believer in the peaceful co-existence of all nations and peoples. In my academic work I have tried to espouse the cause of the weak and the oppressed in a world dominated by power politics, misleading propaganda and violations of basic human rights. I also believe that all conscious members of society have a moral duty to stand for and further the cause of peace and human rights throughout the world.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Stop the Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza

Window Into Palestine

October 28, 2007

Gaza is not only starving; it is dying before the eyes of the international community. If the international conspiracy of silence does not come to an end, and if the policy of blaming the victim continues, the 21st Century will witness its first brutal genocide. Thousands of Israeli soldiers are surrounding Gaza in a hermetic manner, shooting and killing any Palestinian trying to escape. The Rafah Crossing, the only exit to the external world, has been closed for two years.

The Gaza Strip has been turned into the largest concentration camp with the largest population of prisoners in the world. Gazans have repeatedly reiterated their view that the international conspiracy of silence towards the genocidal war taking place against them indicates complicity in these war crimes.

As a result of Israel's blockade on most imports and exports and other policies designed to punish Gazans, about 70% of Gaza's workforce is now unemployed or without pay, according to the United Nations, and about 80% of its residents live in grinding poverty. About 1.2 million of them are now dependent for their day-to-day survival on food handouts from U.N. or international agencies, An increasing number of Palestinian families in Gaza are unable to offer their children more than one meager meal a day, often little more than rice and boiled lentils. Fresh fruit and vegetables are beyond the reach of many families. Meat and chicken are impossibly expensive. And fish is unavailable in its markets because the Israeli navy has curtailed the movements of Gaza's fishermen.It is a violation of international law to collectively punish more than a million people for something they did not do. But Israel has shrugged off the law, has ignored the repeated demands of the U.N. Security Council. Which leaves us with Civil Society organizations, solidarity campaigns and freedom loving people: BREAK THE SIEGE AND STOP THE GENOCIDAL WAR BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.